Base-ball.



G. A REACH.

zsn BALL. APPLIOATIOR FILE D SEPT. 30, 1907.

91 7, 658 Patented Apr. 6, 1909.

GEORGE A. nsaonor rniiianntrnia, PENNSYLVANIA.

- BAsn nALL.

' Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented April 6, 1909'.

Application filed September 30, 1907'. Serial No, 395,067.'

To all 'MILO'IfiJi-i may concern:

lei 1tknown'that I, Gnonon A. REACH, a

citizen of the. Ilnited .States, residing at Philadelphia. in the county 6f Philadelphia andQState of Pennsylvania, have invented a newand useful Improvement in Base-Balls, ofwhich-the following is a specification.

My invention relates to playing-balls, and

. ,pertains more particularly to baseballs in which the center is formed of a resilient sphere having next adjacent thereto a layer of yarn or other thread tightly wound upon said central sphere. Y I

The object of my invention is to produce a playing ball'of said class in which the central sphere is firmly held "concentrically" within same. and the'tendency of the adjacent layer'of thread to slip awayfrom same when su'b ected to severe. blows during' use inplayis obviated. I

As heretoforeconstructed, the central resilient sphere pr core, has-been formed of rubber having' a'smooth suijac'e, the ad acent layerjof yarnbeing wonn hereon anddepending upon its tension f t efrictional 1 contactwjth the rubber {to retain its position. ZIn; use, it-has bee f'jfound that' under hard impact, the-thread sometimes slips, causing the resilient sphere to shift, which results in the ball becomingeccentric, producing soft places therein, and-j materially "destroying its resiliency. I The purpose of my invention is; to m,

. vide a central. sphere, having a roughe'ned 'or notched surface upon which the adjacent layer of thread will take hold and he secured against displacement, to be hereinafterdescribed and more particularly pointed out in the claim.

In the ac c on'ipanyingdrawings illustrating my inv'ention ,"I igure l is a sectional view-- through the center of a base ball showing mycentral sphere'in use; Fig. 2 is a'secti-onal view of my central sphere detached; 3 is a perspective view thereof, and Figs. 4, 5 and 6 illustrate modified forms of my invention.

Referring to the drawings, 1 designates a base ball having a resilient central sphere 2, preferably'ofsolid India rubber, the periphor other depressions 3. Upon said central sphere is tightly wound a layer of thread 4 sphere -Flg. 4 of the drawings, various forms of tween the grooves.

of equal and uniform thickness. The character of the thread is not material to the purposes of this invention, but hard woolen yarnhasbeen found to be most desirable. The corrugated p riphery 3 of the central sphere 2. affords epressions upon the surface thereof in which the strands of the layer of thread become sea-ted when wound thereomand from which. they cannot slip as heretofore; The 'layer of thread 4: is incased in -a layer 5 of an adhesive plastic composition adapted toretain' the spherical contour thereof, and this is wound with a layer of thread ti. which is incased in an outer cover 7, preferably of horse hide.

In the modified forms of the central 2, of my invention, shown in roughening the periphery thereof to afford a retaining surface for the thread are shown. In Fig. 4, the periphery 3 of the central core 2 is provided with-a 'plurality of annular grooves a between rounded annular ridges b. In Fig. 5, the regular surface of the core-2 is provided with annular \f-shaped grooves c, and in Fig. 6, the periphery of the core has concave annular grooves (Z' and sharp annular ridges c be- In each of the modified forms shown, the grooves afford aretaining seat for the thread 4, and it will be appreciated that the same may be varied within a widejrange without departing from the spirit and scope of my invention.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim asinew and desire to be'secured by Letters Patent, is y A base ball, comprising a central resilient sphere provided with depressions and projections upon the periphery thereof, a .resilient layer of woolen' yarn wound uporr same, the strands thereof adjacent to the core being seated in the depressions and held by same and the projections against displacement, and an outer cover of flexible material incaslng same, whereby the central core is held against shifting in concentric position. Y

In testimony whereof, I have hereunto signed my name in the presence of two sub- I scribing Witnesses. cry of which is roughened by corrugations a -.GEORGE 'A. REACH. WVitnesses';

Lucius 

